A handful of sand
by MerlinWept
Summary: In the newly restored Erebor a jewel thief has made quite a stir. Prowling in the dark, the heights reached by the infamous cat burglar grow higher and higher. The next target? Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain . ThorinxOC
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Thorin Oakenshield is hot. That is all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Hobbit or the characters therein.

* * *

><p>Prologue<p>

On soundless feet the shadow moved, instinctively hiding from the light of the moon, pale as it was. The silver beams fell through the gauzy barely there curtain hanging from the large windows, reaching up into even the stone beams in the ceiling where she was hidden and she went from being a shadow to a silhouette one that went unseen. She dropped to the floor and did not bother masking the sound she made. The room was filled with another type of noise already, a loud grunting sound drawn out like a pig's snort.

Deep brown eyes swept over the room form under the onyx hood. They narrowed as she crept closer to the figure on the bed and made a face as the visage that lay on the pillow was seen clearly.

Leka, daughter of the great Lord Tralr from the Iron Hills snored away peacefully on the bed. She hated that dwarrowdam. Always complaining, always shouting, always eating, always belittling people. Horrible person really.

And so with no regret she plucked the ring right off Leka's hand. The giant stone on it, a large pink opal winked in the light shining in the light of the moon. She moved it onto her own hand, studying the way it reflected the light turning it this way and that, unafraid of getting caught. It really was rather pretty. Such a pity that it spent so much time on the hands of one who did not deserve it.

With a sigh she moved away from the bed and slipped back into the shadows. She edged closer and closer to the windows and waited patiently. The moment for her escape came soon as the clouds that always hovered over the moon cloaked its light for but a second and when the rays came out to play again the shadow was gone, the ring along with her.

Six hours later she walked through the wings that housed Lord Tralr and his family. Poor Lady Leka was shouting all of Erebor down, throwing the mother of all tantrums, tch tch tch.

"My ring!" Leka shrieked and if she didn't know that she was the reason for the young dwarrowdam's annoyance she would have flinched at the painful high pitched sound. "Daddy, do something!"

"I think it is time we took this to the King." Lord Tralr said in a resigned voice and she all but skipped her way to the banquet halls.

Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain sat at the head of the table, courtiers all around him engaged in gossip in between morsels of breakfast.

"Did you hear? Lady Leka's ring was stolen! Right off her hand too!"

"Why, the only thing more precious than that ring are the royal jewels! Do you suppose the thief's going after them next?"

She silently tucked into the meal and snickered in her head.

Oh yes, the royal jewels were definitely next. The King under the Mountain had better watch out.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Not sure if I've gotten their voices down properly but I did try.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Hobbit or the characters therein.

* * *

><p>Being King was not all that it was made out to be.<p>

Thorin sat listening to the Elders Council fight amongst themselves about the mines and almost fell over in his seat, sleepy. Behind him, as his personal guard, Dwalin stood just as annoyed with the rest.

Being a King meant listening to a lot of complaints by people who didn't really have anything to complain about, being unable to talk to the general populace the way he used to be able to and a lot of paperwork as well. Thorin had never really expected the throne to come to him. He was in line of course but he had gone from being Crown Prince to being the leader of a people with no home, he had never truly been King as such. At the Battle of the Five Armies he had been prepared to die, all but waiting for it. The line of Durin had not had the best of luck and he had expected to fall in line with the rest and fall in battle like his father and his grandfather before him.

Frankly he'd been surprised that any of them had survived at all, let alone _all_ of them. Dis who was supposed to be the last of their line was not the last of their line at all. Instead he had two heirs in his nephews, both all the better warriors for it. Fili had even begun courting a young noble Dwarrowdam while Kili was now appointed as their ambassador to the Elves for the friendly relationship he had with one in particular who held the King's favour.

Peace and plenty was strange in Erebor in a way quite different from that in the Blue Hills. In the Blue Hills they did not have much but they were just so grateful for what they did have. Here in Erebor there was an excess and the vultures from courts of Dwarf Cities all over Middle Earth had set their eyes upon it.

And now another had sat his eyes upon their precious jewels and while Thorin was loathe to admit it, when the reports of the first burglary came in he was relieved and overjoyed.

It had started when one of the Lords' daughters had reported a necklace missing, a four tiered, ruby necklace with gems the size of eggs. Thorin had seen it before, long ago when it had first been commissioned and knew it to be a lovely piece. Not quite up to par with the pieces of art that the Royal family had but a pretty thing either way.

And then it had been stolen. The young noble just a little scrap of a thing, barely 120 years of age had been inconsolable and Thorin had smiled in the sanctity of his chambers.

Seven years had gone by since Erebor had been reclaimed and it had finally been restored. They were fall along on their way to reclaiming its former splendour, enough so that the word of the baubles held in the city had spread far enough for a thief to call it a mark. This was good, this was very good.

But then it had continued to remain 'good'. All over Erebor burglaries were taking place, those of nobles and always big trinkets, the kind that couldn't have been fenced because they were too recognisable. The only places they would be unknown was in Elven settlements and they wouldn't fetch nearly the price they were worth, the fruity bastards having no understanding of good workmanship when they saw it.

And so despite his relief there he was calling for the Company to meet and plan to make Erebor safe again. The Elders would protest of course but a mention of how these Dwarrow were the only ones who had come to his aid when he had called for the quest to begin with would quell them. And then there was the fact that each one of the Company held claim to one fourteenth of the treasure and hence between them, they owned all of Erebor.

Most of them were there soon but it was the 'Ri brothers that Thorin was really waiting on, or rather one particular one of the 'Ri brothers. It would have made Dwalin very angry but to catch a thief you needed a thief and Nori was one of the best they had.

The three came in squabbling, Dori fussing over Ori while Nori rolled his eyes heavily. They stopped abruptly when they saw their King and knelt on one knee before taking their places at the table. Silence reigned.

"You know why you are all gathered here." Thorin said, his voice filling the cavernous room.

"What took you so long Thorin, I expected to be called for earlier."

"Indeed?" Thorin wondered if Balin even knew why he had been called. The old Dwarrow was sharp though and it would not surprise Thorin if he did.

"Around the time the black pearl earrings were taken."

"Nothing gets past you." Thorin said but the brief smile on his face died a quick death. "There have been items of considerable value stolen all over Erebor. I wish to catch whoever is doing so immediately." He turned specifically to Nori who swallowed but took the podium.

"I'is highly likely that the person conducting the burglaries is working alone."

"What?"

"Aye, I've spoken to many people who work outside the...hand of law and no one has approached any buyers for the jewels. There have been feelers put out by buyers but apparently the thief ain't selling."

"Then why go to such lengths?"

"Tha's where it gets a bit tricky, I believe that the man stealing these objects is likely a noble. It just smacks of boredom this, a cry for attention really. They're stealing for the notoriety of it, not out of necessity." Nori said gravely his gaze falling over all there with a far too knowing look. "This is a game."

"And this person is working alone?"

"Is extremely likely."

Coming from Nori that meant it was probably true.

"The chances of us catching this thief are low unless we catch them in the act." Thorin concluded.

"You can't be serious?" Dwalin said but Nori took a deep breath and looked Thorin right in the eyes which he hadn't actually dared to do until now.

"And it is also my belief that this person will strike the Crown Jewels next."

"We can set a trap." Thorin thought it over. "Lure the thief out."

"It's the best chance we 'ave."

Dwalin scoffed. "You can't be serious? All these burglaries took place in the nobleman's homes, right under their nose which means-"

"Balin, find a way to get rumours out that the Star of Envy is supposed to be making an appearance at Durin's day celebrations this year."

Sharp intakes of breath were to be heard at the mention of that gem. Next to the Arkenstone it was the most precious of all the jewels of Erebor, a deep green emerald the size of Thorin's fist with a pale perfectly shaped slim four pointed white star radiating from the middle on it that many confused to be a trick of the light, a reflection cast upon it by the mithril in which it was set. Then there was the very setting itself, the mithril etched with delicate runes and patterns of the house of Durin so tiny that the one who had made it had driven himself blind completing it. For years it had only been heard of, no one had set their eyes upon it except for Dori who had been the one to find it as they sorted through the contents of the vault, scattered as they had been by Smaug.

It would be an irresistible target for the thief.

"Isn't there another way?" Balin wondered but Nori answered instead.

"No there's no way of getting around it. The next target has to be one of the royal jewels, the thief escalates with each steal, there's no way around it. If it isn't stolen from under Thorin's nose then he'll go around it and find a way into the vault. We don't want that."

"No, we don't want him anywhere near the Arkenstone."

"Your life is worth more than the Arkenstone laddie." Balin said softly.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say his life was on the line. No one's been hurt in any of the heists yet."

"How exactly is he sneaking in and out of people's homes?" Kili asked Nori, bewildered by the very concept of subtlety it seemed.

To slip into a Dwarrow's home and rid them of their most valued possession so easily was quite a feat.

"I've tried sneaking into the homes myself. It was hard and took me bribing a lot of people to do it. Whoever this thief is, he's good."

"So it's settled then, I'll get the Star of Envy out of the vault."

"And I'll put the word out." Balin sighed his hand held at his hip in a sign of exhaustion. The rest of the company trickled out but Thorin stopped upon noticing how Fili was practically running.

"Fili, why are you in such a hurry?"

"He's off with Lady Aesa to Dale." Kili teased and got a punch to the stomach for his efforts.

"Without a chaperone?" Thorin asked sharply.

Fili snorted. "Her mother would never allow such a thing." He said wryly and Thorin's lip curled into a smile at the memory of Lady Sissa who had maintained such decorum even while they were roaming the lands in search of a home that the humans in the villages treated her like a queen even in her plainest gowns. "No her cousin has just come to the city to stay, she'll be overseeing our outing."

"Good. You'll make a fine king one day." Thorin squeezed his nephew's shoulder and went off to the vaults to get the Star out, a ball of lead settled into his stomach as the doors grew closer. He dreaded the sight of the piles of gold more than anything, always afraid that the gold sickness that still lingered in his mind would consume him like it had his grandfather.

There were worse things than death in his world, worse destinies in his line than could be elaborated and he did not want their curse to touch Fili and Kili's lives. He had almost lost his nephews once when he'd left them on a shore too consumed by his greed and for that he would always be sorry, for that he would never forgive himself.

But for now the line of Durin did not have those sorry fates written into their lives. Thorin only hoped it remained so.

* * *

><p>High above the grand table in the room where the Company had stood but a few moments ago, a certain hooded figure tutted.<p>

"So they think they can trap me." She let out a little hmm of contentment, leaning her chin against her hand causally, resisting the urge to swing her legs carelessly before giving in nonetheless. "How cute!" A giggle echoed through the room but went unheard. "I look forward to watching you all try."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I have never written scenes of the nature that are in this chapter. It was weird. But the 'I want to do that again' kind of weird.

Thank you Aeglosdes for reviewing.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Hobbit or the characters therein.

* * *

><p>"Fili, Kili!" Thorin cried out, quickening his pace just a bit, Dwalin doing the same to keep up with him. It was one of the many things Thorin had yet to adjust to, having a phalanx to guard him was one of them even if it was only Dwalin. Still, although he would not admit it Thorin was quite glad to have him watch his back.<p>

"Uncle!"

Both looked to be in high spirits and Thorin could take a guess as to why.

"I see you have been to Dale with Lady Aesa."

Fili flushed. "Yes we have. Under the guidance of a chaperone of course."

Kili snorted. "I don't think Lady Ilsa was chaperoning really. Seemed far more interested in giving me advice."

Thorin's ears pricked at that. He wondered if perhaps Kili had given up on the red headed elleth and taken up with a dwarrowdam instead. He couldn't quite stop the sheer relief coursing through him at the thought of that. Since Kili had gotten badly injured in the process of saving him at the Battle of the Five Armies, Thorin had begrudgingly permitted Kili to continue his 'friendship' with the Mirkwood captain but he wasn't happy about it in the least.

"_Good_ advice though. You were going to send her flowers." Fili scoffed.

"Her?" Thorin inquired.

"Tauriel." Kili said reluctantly with a measured look at him. It took all he could to stop the flinch at her name but Dwalin had no such inhibitions and growled. Kili's face became more closed off and Thorin shot Dwalin a warning glace. He would not alienate any of the few people he could still stand to be around.

(Even if they _were_ elf lovers.)

"I did not realise that sending someone flowers was a bad thing." Thorin said as politely as he could.

"Yes well, Ilsa said giving an elleth dead things was silly when they valued living things and that cut flowers were for the dead not the living." He grumbled.

"She knows elves then?" Thorin said around his gritted teeth that he pretended was a smile and not a grimace. If the amused look Fili shot him was anything to go by he was not convincing anyone

Fili shrugged. "Apparently she was part of an envoy sent by Dain to Lothlorien a few years back and she's maintained good terms with them." He shot him a look. "She said she'd met you though."

"Oh? I don't remember her though."

He simply shrugged in response. "Any news from Mother?"

"Dis says it should take a few more months to settle things." He said and the two boys drooped. They would always be boys no matter that they were courting, they would always be Dis's boys. "Perhaps you can send her a raven."

"Isn't that where you're going?"

Thorin shook his head. "I go to the treasury to get the Star of Envy."

"Mister Balin's done a good job spreading news of it." Kili said.

"We heard the humans in Dale talk of it too. It has almost-"Here Fili broke off and turned careful eyes to Thorin.

"Has almost what?"

"Umm, it has almost erased all talk of the Arkenstone." Kili said softly and the two lowered their eyes from Thorin.

He could understand why. The Arkenstone would now always be an object to be feared instead of revered, Thorin's gold sickness and obsession with the stone had seen to that. It was with a grave sobriety that they excused themselves from his presence and he was back on his path again. The treasury was soon in front of him and it was with hesitating arms that he pushed the doors open.

The gold sickness had left a deep effect on him. Thorin swung between moments of utter lucidity in which he internally flinched at the sight of the bright metal and other times when his head was clouded over with a lust for it. Thankfully the second was much less frequent but it was alarming nonetheless.

"I'll wait outside." Dwalin said.

"If I-"

"You won't." He said firmly and Thorin knew he couldn't fall back to his weakness. Not when there were so many who had such faith in him. Piles of gold lay all around him and he managed somehow to ignore it all.

But the chest in the corner called out to him. A small oblong chest, made of the mithril from another small armour that had been found in the treasure. On the inside of it lay the Arkenstone and he resolutely looked away.

Not that his looking would do any good. The box was cunningly made so that it would unlock only under the combined turning of the thirteen iron keys which, at the moment lay scattered all around Erebor and possibly even Middle Earth, their hiding places known only to the members of the Company to which they had been given. Thorin's own key had been borne away by a raven to the Iron Hills not long after the box was finished.

He turned his attention to the Star of Envy instead. It was beautiful to say the least, Thranduil had spoken of the white gems that he desired but Thorin knew that it was this stone that held his fancy even more. Every time he turned it in his hand he found the facets in the stone revealing another hue of green, one that would have filled Thranduil with sorrow, envy and love all at once because the forest he reigned had once shone with the same colours.

The white gems were the stars that were precious to him and the Star of Envy was the reminder of what his domain had once been.

The dwarves of Erebor were currently at peace with Mirkwood and their King. Fighting together against Orcs had forced better relations upon them and even the transgression committed against the dwarves who had been held for no good reason had been forgiven when the Orcrist had been returned to Thorin. But the edge of animosity remained and it was not likely to be dulled anytime soon.

And so the thought of Thranduil almost in tears added a little skip to his step as Thorin Oakenshield retired to his chambers with the Star of Envy with him.

* * *

><p>Thorin woke with a start. The room was still dark, almost completely so save for the light of the moon which rose high in the sky that night. But not for nothing did Thorin wake, he had spent far too long in far too much danger and had developed instincts that kept him alive. And right now his instincts were screaming that something was very wrong. The muscles in his neck corded as he tensed and then he realised that he felt a bit of a sting there and relaxed. He had always been a bit sensitive when it came to his neck, it would not be the first time he had woken up to swat at a mosquito sucking his blood and he reached for neck only to find himself holding what felt to be a little splinter of wood.<p>

He pulled it and held it up to the little light and inhaled sharply. In his hand was a little wooden needle and from the gleam on it, it appeared to be coated in poison or some sort of drug. He opened his mouth to yell for his guards only to find that everything was blurring far too much. His mind was sluggish and his mouth wasn't really moving the way he wanted it to. The splinter fell out of his hand and landed on the stone floor with a tinkling noise and even as his head fell back upon the bed he felt, rather than saw, a person appear out of seemingly nowhere.

This is it, he thought, this is how I die. Not in battle as a brave warrior, not ambushed on the road. No, he would die simply assassinated in his bed.

Still, he wouldn't go down without a fight. He tried to stand up, he tried to reach for the sword that as always lay at his bed side but his hands did not seem to be willing to listen. Like trying to hold on to water, the sword kept on slipping from his hand and by now the shadow had moved so close as to sit next to him on his bed, uncaring of the fact that even a moment's clarity would mean he would have his head knocked off.

"Tch tch, don't be silly now. You're in no state to be handling sharp objects."

A dwarrowdam!

"Now you just lie down," she pushed him on his chest just a bit and his strength failing him again he fell back with ease. "And relax. Don't want to overexert yourself. Not you'll be doing that for long."

No words escaped his throat but the rasping sound had a tone of question to it.

"No, no that's ridiculous. I'm not here to kill you! It's just a little sleeping potion. With a bit of a paralytic but the effects are temporary, don't you worry your sweet little head over it."

His mind was too sluggish to understand exactly what was going on but indignation flared up anyway at the accusation of him having a sweet little head.

"Now don't be angry with me Thorin, I couldn't just let you set a trap for me and not actually spring it!" She chided.

And then he realised, this was no assassin, this was the thief.

She bent over him and he opened his eyes as wide as they would go with the haze over his head growing rapidly but it was veiled in shadows and details slipped through his mind like it was but a sieve. But _that voice_, that voice he would remember. Her hands slipped over his chest and cupped the back of his neck, their ascent slow and steady leaving a trail of fire behind them.

"Oh King, Great King, the one under the Mountain," She sang her voice low and sultry. Even with the paralytic coursing through him he felt himself respond to the feel of her breath on his ear, the nails of her hands tracing a slow path down his cheek oddly sensual. While he could not move a muscle he could certainly feel her against him and he felt as hot as if he had been working in the forges again. He was paralysed but certainly not numb. "I am not an idiot as you believe me to be."

The rustle of cloth sounded and his breath quivered angrily, wondering what she was planning on doing now that she had him at her mercy. And then the touch of something soft against his cheek stunned him. She had kissed his cheek he realised as he felt her smile against his skin, the soft curls of her sideburns a whisper against his own beard.

And then the hand at his neck felt around until they came upon the chain that held the Star of Envy under his sleep shirt and she pulled it out, slipping it over his head. Dainty hands, although gloved, held it up and through the pressing darkness, the emerald caught moonlight and winked.

"A pretty thing isn't it? It was nice of you to bring it out just for me, I was getting so bored I thought I'd make a game out of hunting for thirteen iron keys. But they are scattered all over Arda, some in Ered Luin in the Princess Dis' hands and others in even odder places. Why, I've even heard that one might be in the Shire of all places!"

She had already been in the vault and seen the Arkenstone's vessel. While they knew well that they weren't dealing with a thief of ordinary calibre, they hadn't expected such greatness. Nori would not be happy to learn of this at all.

"Here I am with the King under the Mountain at my mercy. But you see all I really want to do is talk. You don't know what it's like to see you all the time, at dinner at breakfast and all the time in between. Why, even Fili and Kili can't help but mention you, not to mention Balin! He has a most high opinion of you, you know, and I just wanted to see what the fuss was about. Pity it took a drugged needle to do so don't you think?"

So he had seen her but not met her. That would narrow it down from a few thousands to few hundreds. Still, quite a task of course but it might make it easier now.

"But our time together grows short. It was a pretty little trap you were going for but it failed. You saw that there was rhyme and reason to what I was doing but even though you knew the rhyme you failed to ask what the reason was. Why don't you ask yourself, why _them_? Why did I choose to steal from those particular people? Especially when my skill set clearly does not limit me in any way. For now though, I bid you farewell, darkling. Until we meet again." She pressed another kiss this one closer to his mouth. "Stay safe."

Before he could blink she was gone. And then the darkness swept down upon him as he could fight the effects of the drug no longer and gave in to the pressing need to fall back into oblivion.

The next time he woke it was to the sound of Dwalin yelling for him at the door of his chambers. Muttering one platitude, Thorin set about getting out of bed when quite suddenly he stopped and remembered the events from the night before. Cursing softly under his breath he reached around his neck but instead of the bare collar he expected he found the chain right there with the Star of Envy shining away on it. On the ground eh found no little wooden needle coated with paralytic, his sword still in pace next to him instead of on his bed haphazardly pulled out. It didn't take him long to conclude that it was a dream, it must have been. An effect of the lingering gold sickness he decided and opened the door hurriedly.

"Finally what took you so-"Dwalin stopped in his tracks and turned a bright red, looking up. He pointedly avoided looking in the general direction of Thorin's bed, keeping his eyes trained on the dresser opposite instead. "Didn't know you had company."

Thorin frowned, puzzled. "I don't."

"But you did last night." Dwalin said meaningfully and Thorin wondered if perhaps Gandalf had laid some enchantment on him that broadcasted his sick dreams to the world.

"I had a strange dream that I did but I really didn't."

"Thorin, you _did_." He insisted and it was Thorin's turn to be annoyed.

"The hell I did. I had a dream that the thief was a dwarrowdam and she drugged me but beyo-"

"She kiss you on the cheek in this dream?" He asked urgently.

"How did you know?"

Dwalin's countenance grew stern and he drew Thorin near the mirror standing on the dresser and finally he understood why Dwalin was so sure he had company the last night. There on his cheek in bright red was a stain shaped distinctly like a pair of lips.

"I think you'd best send for Nori."


	4. Chapter 3

It was with heavy steps that Thorin began the walk back to his chambers. The rest of the Company had been informed about the 'developments' with the thief and a suitably abridged version of the events in his chamber had been recounted to them. Nori had sworn up a storm and practically vibrating with rage by the end of it and Balin had quite clearly noticed the little hitch here and there when Thorin edited the story. Given the looks he had shared with his brother, Thorin knew that Balin would soon be informed of the events exactly as they had happened which irked Thorin.

For some reason he wanted to keep some of those words to himself.

Before he could reach his chambers though, Thorin caught a glint of gold and turned away from it flinching. He still felt a sickness from gold although in a very different form than the one his ancestors had. The very shine of it caused him to be a bit sick and he found himself restraining from heavy meals before holding court, certain that the nobles and their many jewels would make his stomach turn.

Although they were wearing less of them now. Fear of the thief was turning out to be a boon for Thorin in more ways than one and his thoughts turned to the lady thief again.

What did she mean when she talked of 'reason'? Why did she want them to take a closer look at the noble she stole from? Nori had seemed to recognise something of it but hadn't elaborated. Leka's father was a respected lord and a merchant of great wealth as well. Diplomacy and the manners of court were all but unknown to Thorin now. As a young prince he had understood them well but the many years on the road, the many years of fighting had turned him into something else entirely. He knew only the struggle now, not success.

Consumed with his thoughts as he was, he soon found himself lost. It was not truly unusual for him although he still would not submit to the accusations of many in the Company that he was directionally challenged, but he had managed to waylay Dwalin as well.

But a cracking sound and pain blooming behind his head brought the thoughts to a halt as he fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Fili, Kili!" Dwalin's gruff yell caught the group's attention and they all stopped mid-laugh to turn to the King's guard. "Have you seen your Uncle?"<p>

"You lost him?" Fili laughed and aimed a rakish smirk at Lady Aesa who blushed most becomingly.

"More like Uncle lost himself." Kili teased.

"It's no jokin' matter. Or do you boys not remember what we discussed just a few hours ago?"

The two brothers paled. Dwlain shook his head at them and stormed off the two following him close behind shouting apologies to the two ladies even as they left.

"I always thought Prince Fili was exaggerating King Thorin's tendency to get lost." Aesa said, still confused. "He got lost in his own Kingdom?"

"That's nothing, I once saw a woman in Gondor who got lost and confused on her way to the privy from the drawing room, in her own house nonetheless!" Ilsa assured her and the two started walking back.

"Really?"

"Oh yes." Ilsa shook her head vigorously before frowning and tilting her head. "Of course, she was heavily with child at the time."

"I don't think King Thorin suffers from such a problem." Aesa noted.

"I certainly hope not. What channel would the child emerge from?"

The two ladies shuddered at the thought and poured themselves a tisane of scorched rice to calm their wayward thoughts.

* * *

><p>Thorin came to with the usual amount of heavy headedness for a blow to the head. His mind swam and his eyes shuttered close for a brief few seconds to get used to the light of the torches that lit the dark place where he was. He moved to sit up but found himself being kept down there by ropes.<p>

"Mahal damn it, he's awake." The voice said and he recognised that voice. Leka's father, Tralr paced in front of him and Thorin felt like quite an idiot.

Perhaps he should have hired the thief to teach him of court life instead of Balin. He liked her methods of rewarding him better anyway, although the drugging could be optional next time.

"We should kill him." Shrill and screechy, Leka herself appeared. Thorin almost laughed. The last he had seen of her, she was all but prostrating herself at his feet and now she suggested callously that they should kill him.

"I thought you hit him hard." Tralr snapped at the dwarrow nearby, cowering and throwing scared glances between Thorin and Tralr.

"You will find," Thorin drawled trying to imitate the thief woman's tone. "That the sons of Durin have very hard heads. All of them. And there are, after all, so many of them."

Tralr flinched but Leka, interestingly enough, seemed bored.

"Just snap his neck and take the damn emerald. No one will ever find him here anyway." She said and Thorin looked around the place. It reeked of death and he realised why when he found his eyes staring at the bodies of the dwarves who had died trying to flee from Smaug littered around the place.

They must have died here, he realised, asphyxiated and clawing for breath. Some of the shafts were still not cleared for mining, the supports destabilised by Smaug and they were in one of them.

"Have you no respect for the dead?" He all but screamed and while the men stepped back further into the shadows, Leka simply laughed.

"I respect them so much I'll give them a present. _You_."

She moved towards him menacingly and he sent an apology to Mahal for daring to hurt a dwarrowdam and set about freeing himself. The roped were tied tightly but he had blades sown into the lining of his sleeves for exactly situations such as these, an idea that he would be sure to thank Nori for if he got out of there alive.

He heard rather than saw the needles embed themselves into the three in quick succession. Sounds echoed in these empty places and the little 'phwip' was quite audible to him. Leka and Tralr hadn't noticed at all. The other dwarf, presumably a servant, simply continued to look around in fear and as the thief emerged from the shadows he and Thorin were the only ones to notice. Curious, Thorin thought, that he doesn't raise an alarm at this.

It bore merit to investigate this further.

Meanwhile the father and daughter continued their argument.

"-Don't be ridiculous, we should take the emerald while we still can and run."

"I don't want to run, we should just kill him and get into Fili's good graces. That bitch Aaaesa caan be haandl-" Leka swayed, her words slurring but Tralr didn't notice, his own form darting from side to side before all three fell to a heap.

"Really Thorin darling, I tell you to look into them and improve things and end up having to rescue you? Tsk tsk."

"I could have rescued myself." Thorin rolled his eyes and made a show of rubbing his wrists in front of her. He could detect a roll of eyes in her snort and stopped abruptly.

Ignoring him, she went up to the three and began tying them with a sturdy piece of rope. Leka and Tralr were treated with no care whatsoever but the servant merited a gentler touch that had him wondering.

"Do you know him?"

"I know of him." She said and sighed. "He's a good dwarf but he owes Tralr a great debt. Tralr found him at his lowest and all but coerced him into a signing a contract with an interest rate so high he'll spend the best part of two centuries serving the bastard."

"Is that what you wanted me to find out?"

"That and the fact that Lord Tralr himself owes many people a lot of money. Most of his servants he sold off into _slavery_ to get himself a temporary respite. It didn't matter to whom he sold them, men or dwarf even Easterlings. "

"And Leka?"

"That one is something else entirely. It was her idea to procure a set of fine jewels and parade around in them projecting an image of wealth to attract suitors. She failed to realise of course that most of these suitors end up being fortune hunters themselves with nothing to their own name to offer. But even so she has managed to turn that into a profit."

"And how is that?"

"She asked Gaarl to meet her at the gates of Erebor and had her father and this man waiting for them. He was sold to a wandering tribe of Blacklocks who needed an errand boy." She stood up then leaving the three in their restrained positions. "Well come on then. We'll need to get you back before they send out an army for you and leave the city defenceless."

"I can get back on my own."

"Darkling, you're infamous for your shite sense of direction."

"I'm not-"

"_Down here, there's a ligh-"_ Kili's voice echoed before stopping abruptly.

"I imagine that would be the Spymaster telling the young prince to quiet down. The cavalry came to the right place then, bravo." She clapped light, her gloved fingers pressing against the flesh of her palm lightly. "You have some sensible people in your Company after all, my King." Thorin barely stopped his body from betraying the shudder that ran through it when she called him her King in that low voice of hers.

"I'm here." He bellowed, half to let them know he was safe and half to do something to control himself and the stomp of boots was heard.

"Stay safe." She said before stealing one quick kiss from him in a flash and walking down the opposite side of the shaft before he could unscramble his thoughts and follow her. "And this time I mean it." She tossed over her shoulder and melted back into the shadows.

"Thorin!" Kili cried out and began fussing over him as the princes were want to do since the Battle of the Five Armies. His eyes skittered beyond to the three bodies lying prone on the ground and his eyebrows swept so high Thorin grew afraid they would fly off his head. "That's impressive."

"And someone else's handiwork." Nori commented dryly, kneeling and plucking the needle from Tralr.

"Don't touch that, it's poisoned."

"I know."

It was only then that Thorin noted the thin wax like substance coating Nori's fingers. Had it always been there or was this a new addition?

Nori looked at him, finally really looked at him and smirked. Thorin did not like where that going.

"You got summin' on your mouth."

When he wiped his mouth and his fingers came back stained red, Thorin was exactly surprised. He just thought a thief would be a bit more discreet.

"She seems fond of that colour."

Kili stared, then realised and then began laughing loudly.

"And _I'm_ the Black Sheep of the family? Really? Oh you're taking up with a thief, Mother is going to have a field day with this."

Thorin wondered if there was anything he had that he could use to bribe his nephew to keep this from his mother and could think of nothing. He resigned himself to a letter that would soon arrive for him, filled with nothing but laughter. If he knew Dis, she'd probably train the raven to laugh at him on her behalf.

What a nightmare. Thorin almost wished he was tied up again.

* * *

><p>A few feet down the tunnel a little giggle resounded. The Prince's laughter was rather contagious.<p> 


End file.
